The Mars rover Opportunity was finally pronounced dead by Nasa this week, months since they last received a signal from it.

Barack Obama led the tributes to 'Oppy', thanking it for all that it taught us about our neighbouring red planet.

It was a sad day, but one that was surprisingly uplifting.

The rover was only expected to roam the surface of Mars for a few months, yet it spent some 15 years there, sending back ground-breaking images and expanding our understanding.

The last message it sent back to earth? "My battery is low and it's getting dark..."

Trying not to see Opportunity as some kind of touching, Wall-E character has been challenging, especially with Nasa revealing they played Billie Holiday's I'll Be Seeing You to the robot in a final bid to hear back.

While space fans and Nasa employees alike cried for the little robot that did, it had us thinking about all of the great crafts that have reached space - both in real life and in fiction.